Your Morning Dump… Where Lasme’s got some pretty good motivation

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Training in Italy this summer for Russia’s Spartak Saint Petersburg squad, Lasme — a citizen of Gabon — was informed that if he didn’t return to the United States and land a year-long job, he could lose his residency.

“My wife and my baby are American,” the 27-year-old Lasme said after Sunday’s 91-87 win over the Raptors. “To get a chance to see them, I basically have to get a job here.”

Playing for teams in Serbia and Tel Aviv ever since he failed to make the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat in 2007-08, Lasme decided to return to the U.S., even if that meant a “big, big, big” pay cut.

“I had to make a choice between seeing my family or not seeing my family and taking that much money,” said the 6-foot-8, 220-pound former UMass forward. “For me, the choice is obvious. I’m gonna see my family.”

Doc is going out of his way to praise this kid. Of course… he's not really a kid. He's a 27 year-old man with a wife and a kid.

And let me tell you… there's nothing you can do to stop a man on a mission for his family. That's not only a great motivator… maybe the best motivator aside for fighting for your own life… it's damn a near unfair one. How can you compete with a guy who is willing to do anything to keep his residency to see his wife and kid?

That said… I wonder how the Celtics are going to treat this. Are they going to give him that 15th spot… or are they going to take advantage of that new rule and tuck him away in Maine since they know he'll do it. This way, they can essentially keep 2 guys instead of just the one.

For example, if they keep Lasme on the roster and turn to Von Wafer or Mario West and say "Hey, wanna play for the Red Claws?"… they run the risk of both of those guys saying "thanks, but I'm just gonna go play overseas." BUT, say they keep Wafer… they can tuck Lasme away in Maine to get some good playing time while giving Wafer more time to figure things out.

Wafer didn't look great last night, but he looked better than he has in the past. He actually drove the lane, hit a 3, and made at least a couple of solid defensive plays. It was nothing spectacular, but its enough to show improvement. And with Delonte West missing the first 10 games of the year AND dealing with back spasms… Wafer might just become Delonte insurance.

So the question becomes.. to the Celtics reward Lasme's effort, dedication and motivation… or do they take advantage of it. You can make a case for either. And even though the latter seems a bit on the slimy side… that's business. And if you've got a player willing to do something that others aren't… you HAVE to consider it if you're Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers. Because you can always cut Wafer (or Mario West) later on and recall Lasme should you need to.

On Page 2… Jermaine O'Neal and Big Baby have a contest going

Standing next to each other on one side of the paint, Boston Celtics teammates Jermaine O'Neal and Glen Davis saw, at precisely the same moment, a Sixers ball-handler ready to drive from the opposite baseline.

Like two shoppers racing for a must-have Christmas gift on Black Friday, the two practically pushed each other out of the way trying to scramble over and draw an offensive foul.

In a way, it seemed appropriate. These two figure to be pushing each other to take charges all season long.

"It's a contest this year: Who can draw the most charges," O'Neal said after the game with a big grin. "And I believe I'm going to win it."

I like this… because this is based on solid defense and the team concept. It forces you to be crisp on your rotations and see the floor.

So while on the surface this is a fun little contest to see who can draw the most charges… it is, at its roots, a constant drill that will force these guys to evaluate every play defensively, anticipate the opponent's next move, and beat him to the punch. It's a chess game.

I like what Jermaine is doing so far. His offense isn't quite there yet… but that'll come in time. But the other stuff is looking great. He's rebounding, defending and blocking shots. That's all hustle and effort stuff.

Jermaine had 12 rebounds in 19 minutes last night. Think about the rebounding issues the Celtics had last year. If he just rebounds this year, it will be a huge help to the team.

I was pulling for Von Wafer in the beginning as I love 3-Pt shooters, but with Nate and West on the team and Von Wafer playing so-so I would prefer Lasme on the team. A defensive stopper for limited minutes makes more sense as Wafer would not play much anyway and would he be happy with that role?

Alex

^ hear hear

NineSevenEight

All I’ve seen from Wafer is drives to the basket followed by dishes to no one on the Celtics. He had a layup last night and instead turned the ball over. If it happened every now and then, I’d understand. But it’s happened more frequently than it should for a guy that’s supposed to be a shooter.

mileke

i was pulling for WAFER also, but he has not showed any ethusiasm the whole training camp, went the whole camp without making a 3 until last night, and that will be the main reason we keep him, and he only hit his first 3 apprximately 14 days into camp, so he’s already not living up to the Celtics Way of doing things, he’s already a horrible defender, and you just cant pass up an invitee that proced a spark in his first 7 minutes of the nba scoring 12 points grabbing 4 boards and continue to be a great defensive stopper, plus the motivational story behind this, you cant tell me you can pass that up, and quite frankly he can probally run the 3 if needed so that will put more depth behind Pierce and Marquis, so i say keep Lasme and let Von latch on somewhere else which will happen in no time.. there are teams that really need a VON, but we really need a LASME,the celtics said they will take only the BEST 15 out of camp, and the best 15 are Rajon, Ray, Paul, Kevin, Jermaine, Nate, Delonte, Marquis, Glen, Shaq, Luke, Semih, Kendrick, Avery, and last but certainly not least Lasme, enuff said !

jared

I have not been impressed with Wafer whatsoever. He seems somewhat lackadaisical and turnover prone. I think it will be key this year to cut down on turnovers, and already Von seems like a weak link. Some guys just arent ready to be Celtics material. Letting him move on is probably a win-win at this point, imo.

ShawnCVD

Lasme will be our TA with size. He’ll be expected to defend the huge SF in this league. We all know Quis is injury prone…so go with Lasme.
BTW John you where channeling your inner Danny Ainge with your ruthless banishing of Lasme to Red Claws scenario. It’s all business though…

http://profile.typepad.com/the_bantam the_bantam

Right on Shawn. Lasme is hungry as hell and has mad game. Though Doc I think said that he was the best athlete.. ahem Rondo.. but still that’s damned good company. For nothing else, having a defensive body with loads of energy is huge, especially how this team only needs the bench to hold games close.
Regardless of motivation, I say sign him. Bottom line is that he’s earned it. Not ‘the potential of being a good shooter’ or anything else. Given that we haven’t seen practices, he’s certainly earned it based on his pre-season performance.
* and how cool would it be to see a few more nasty dunks a week?